How to Get Well (Not Worse) in the Hospital

Hospital errors are scary and surprisingly common. Here's how to avoid them.

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Hospitals and ERs can be shockingly unhealthy places, says Joe Graedon, coauthor of the new book Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them. Mistakes are scarily common: One intensive care unit that tracked its errors found that staffers made an average of 1.7 missteps per patient per day. You can make the difference by following this advice if you or anyone you love is hospitalized.

INSIST ON CLEAN HANDS (AND EVERYTHING ELSE).

An estimated one in 20 patients picks up an infection at the hospital. The best way to protect yourself? Ask everyone who comes in contact with you, even visitors, to wash his or her hands before touching you. "On average, doctors really only wash up between patients about a third of the time," says Peter Pronovost, M.D., author of Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals. You can also request that stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs, as well as bed rails and the TV remote, be disinfected with a wipe, says Graedon.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO SAY "NO."
Patients often don't realize that they have the right to question and even refuse treatments while in the hospital. If a nurse hands you or your kid some mystery pills, or says it's time to put in an IV and you don't understand why it's needed, feel free to put on the brakes, Graedon says. It could be an unnecessary intervention, and all drugs and procedures come with possible risks and side effects.

DOUBLE-CHECK PRESCRIPTIONS.

If you leave the hospital with a prescription, make a copy of it before getting it filled, Graedon says. The average pharmacy fills four out of 250 scripts incorrectly each day.